The invention generally relates to the field of computers. More specifically, the invention relates to user interface equipment for use with computers. The invention has particular applicability to keyboards.
Computer user interface devices, such as keyboards, have features which have not changed much in several decades, such as alphanumeric keys in the standard QWERTY character arrangement. However, keyboards have also included an increasing variety of newer, more computer- or application-specific features, as the capabilities of the computers have increased. For instance, separate numeric keypads and function keys (F1, F2, etc.) which came into use with IBM compatible computers in the 1980s have become ubiquitous.
More recently, however, the capabilities of computers have expanded so much that a wide variety of other user interface devices may advantageously be used. One way of utilizing such capability is to provide a user with a workstation having a variety of peripheral devices. This arrangement has the drawbacks of high total cost for all the interface devices, and great space requirements.
A solution to these drawbacks would be to integrate these additional features into keyboards. However, keyboards with numeric keypads and function keys are already large enough that they take up a great deal of desk space. These problems will only get worse as more and more functions are designed into keyboards.
Moreover, manufacturers most allow for the added costs of designing such added-feature keyboards. Such costs must, unfortunately, be passed on to customers. Additionally, where a variety of different types of new keyboard functions are to be provided; manufacturers must provide a disadvantageously large number of different keyboard models, each one incorporating the standard keyboard features as well as the particular set of new features the buyers of that model of keyboard will by using.
Accordingly, there is a need for a new approach to keyboard design, according to which added features are provided to users, on manageably sized keyboards, for which design and manufacturing costs are kept under control.
There is provided, in accordance with the invention, a computer user interface device, made up of modules having separate sets of user interface features. For instance, a keyboard device has a first module bearing standard alphanumeric and control keys, and a second module, selected from a set of optional modules bearing specialized features such as multimedia controls, communication interfaces, or magnetic media readers. The modules are mechanically coupled together. An electrical interface allows user input signals, such as keystroke signals to be consolidated on one module, preferably the specialized module, into a single signal stream, for coupling to the computer.
A user interface device in accordance with the invention allows a user to select a combination of features, such as standard keyboard features plus specialized features such as multimedia controls, to suit the user""s specific needs. Upgrading is easy and inexpensive for the user, since only the appropriate module need be replaced.
For the manufacturer, there is a decreased need for a catalog of different types of keyboards, and for an inventory of each. Introducing a new model of one of the modules is relatively easy for the manufacturer, since there is no need to retool a whole keyboard. Therefore, the manufacturer enjoys cost savings.